Manitobans weigh in on potential social media ban for kids under 16

A new Angus Reid poll says children 16 and under should be banned from using social media. CTV's Joseph Bernacki reports.

Some Manitoba parents are hoping Canada follows Australia’s lead prohibiting children 16 and under from using social media.

Australia introduced the youth ban on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat accounts in December.

“I thought good for them, that’s good,” Danielle Burtch, who has a 14-year-old daughter, told CTV News. “More of us should do that, more countries should do that.”

Burtch isn’t alone.

A new Angus Reid survey found 75 per cent of Canadian adults surveyed support a full ban on social media use for anyone under the age of 16, and 70 per cent of parents with kids in that range agree.

Almost all the respondents said they are concerned about the impacts of social media, with 94 per cent worried about negative mental-health impacts.

Addiction, excessive screen time, misinformation, online predators and cyberbullying were also among the top concerns noted by respondents.

“I think just overall for kids’ mental health and just learning social interactions, they’re better off without that,” Burtch said.

Burtch said she took away her daughter’s Snapchat account because peer pressure was affecting the teen’s mental health.

“She’s got Instagram now but honestly, that’s more than I think I’d like her to have,” Burtch said. “We try to find a happy medium and she’s doing well with that.”

Leslie Roos, an associate professor in the University of Manitoba’s psychology department, said Australia’s ban was a bold decision.

“I think right now parents are feeling really overwhelmed with how quickly the digital environment has changed and have been pretty scared by some of the information presented,” Roos said.

She said there is more risk to a child’s mental health as more apps and social media platforms become available.

“Some of the risks that we see from early online youth or just a lot of online use are potential for increased exposure to cyberbullying, sleep disruption from late night use, social comparison to others and body image concerns and algorithm driven exposure to harmful or extreme content,” Roos said.

However, not all parents agree on the proposed age range if Canada implemented a ban in the future.

“The 15 to 16 (age) is really tricky,” Davelyn Delande, a father of two teenagers, told CTV News. “Younger, I would definitely agree to say between 12, or up to 14.”

Delande said the situation is comparable to a student driver. He said if teenagers are responsible enough to drive at 15 and a half - they should be able to post on social media - with supervision from a parent.

The Angus Reid Institute said they gathered a randomized sample of 4,005 adults for the survey from mid-March.

Among the respondents, TikTok, X and Snapchat were at the top of the ban list.

Social media age restrictions are on the agenda at the Liberals’ national convention next month, with calls to put the onus on tech platforms to prevent underage users from having accounts.

But the majority of those who support a full ban also believe that parents should be primarily responsible for regulating teens’ social media use, not governments. The pollster called this a “curious juxtaposition.”

• With files from The Canadian Press